


Only Us

by MarioIsMario



Category: Always Raining Here
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I LOVE THESE BOYS SO MUCH it genuinely made me lovesick, M/M, Musical References, always raining here in 2020 why id never, i can write them into 2020 if theres a postcard of them on a switch, i literally only finished reading it 3 days ago and then i reread it and read every short story, set in 2020 because its easier to write but its set in their senior year, then found every piece of fan content possible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22524772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarioIsMario/pseuds/MarioIsMario
Summary: It's a month away from the school talent show and Carter shows off a little more talent than one might expect, and Adrian is living for it.
Relationships: Carter Brooks/Adrian Hlaváček, Jason Keller/Maria Wong
Comments: 12
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> im projecting my lovesickness into this
> 
> also this will update slowly because with 15 fics on ao3 theres only gonna be a handful of people paying attention to this like me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit july 11th 2020: changed microphones to headsets to fit my final envision of the performance

**March 2 (Auditorium)**

* * *

Carter peaked out from behind the curtains. Not every seat was filled, but oh man that was a lot of people. Jason and Maria caught sight of him from the front row and waved. Carter's heartbeat started getting louder, and his body sweatier. Suddenly, he felt someone pull his arm to drag him back behind the curtains.

"No no, don't do that. You can look at the audience later." Adrian had two headsets in his hand and gave one to Carter. "These aren't on yet by the way. They'll turn on once it starts."

Carter looked down at the headset in his hands. He didn't feel prepared, but he worked so hard to come this far.

"Look at me." Adrian said.

Carter looked up, and saw Adrian look straight into his eyes. Adrian walked forward and kissed him, cupping his cheek in his hand.

Adrian pulled away from the kiss. "Better?"

"Maybe." Carter blushed and looked down at his headset again. Admittedly it probably shouldn't have worked to calm him down, but having his boyfriend's support in this moment was very nice to have. He put his headset on.

Amanda's voice rang out through the wing of the stage. "Carter, Adrian, get into positions."

"Okay, I have to go to my side of the stage now. You'll be fine." Adrian patted his shoulder. He quickly went to the clothing rack next to them and pulled his yellow jacket off the hanger and ran to the opposite side of the stage.

This was it. One month of preparation, and he was going to do it. Carter quickly put on his jacket from the clothing rack and pulled the headphones out of his front pocket and put it on his neck. Where's the-

Amanda handed him his beanie. "Fell out of your hoodie. Break a leg, kid."

Carter put it on his head. Honestly, the idea of doing that made him less scared than this.

The other theater arts students rolled out the set onto the stage. It was a simple set that would help the performance, a bookshelf with magazines on it, two desks and two chairs, and a set of lockers borrowed from a local theater.

Did he ever think he would get into this position? Maybe. He did date a guy into musical theater, so at least seeing a musical was a given, but _actually_ performing was another thing. Was this better than being reclusive and hanging out with random people? Still up for debate.

Carter heard the audience die down, which meant that the curtains were about to open. The spotlight was turned to Carter.

He took his position at the bookshelf.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello is there anyone here reading the chapter because i am
> 
> its been over for 4 years idk whos left


	2. Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually accidentally wrote this chapter first because i wasnt thinking when i began writing and accidentally started with this one

**February 1 (Brook's Household)**

* * *

Adrian and Carter were at Carter's house playing Mario Kart on his Nintendo Switch. It was late evening and Adrian's parents (reluctantly) let Adrian stay overnight at Carter's place because they both needed to work overnight on an English poster. Something about advertising "The Catcher in the Rye" as a movie. It hasn't been worked on in over an hour now because Adrian's been too busy trying to win a 200cc Grand Prix. Not any specific one, just literally any.

"I win!" Adrian leapt up from his spot on the floor with his controller cradled in his fist. While Adrian was sitting down playing the game focusing intently with a Pro Controller in his hand, Carter just held a single blue Joy-Con (the red one was charging).  
  
Carter smirked, "Finally, I was wondering when you would finally beat me." He already won 4 times in a row. He's actually not that bad of a player when he's actually trying. Scary when he's actually trying hard to beat you.

"Wanna play another game? I bought a few last week." Carter asked.

Adrian looked down. "Yeah sure, just make sure the second player can actually do something this time."

"I didn't expect Super Mario Odyssey to only allow you to play as Cappy!" Carter enjoyed himself and got a little lost in the game as Adrian tiredly waggled a Joy-Con around. It lasted about 10 minutes before they moved on to Mario Kart.

"Yeah whatever," Adrian sat back down and smiled teasingly.

Carter went back to the home screen then looked at the time. It was about 9pm.

Carter's eyes widened. "Oh shit, I gotta go shower!"  
  
Adrian raised an eyebrow, "What's the rush? You can go do that later."

"Rebecca has been taking a crazy long time in the bathroom ever since Lush reopened at Metrotown and I usually go before her so I don't have to wait and she gets PISSED if I take too long." Carter _bolted_ into his room to get a change of clothes.

"Okay, well, don't take too long. We still need to colour in the rest of the poster," Adrian said in the direction Carter was running. This was probably the quickest he's ever seen Carter run.

"YEAHWHATEVERBRB" Carter slammed the door on his way in.

Adrian wouldn't have thought that Rebecca would care that much about Lush, but to be fair, their products are very appealing. Adrian sat back down on the couch and pulled out the pencil crayons from his bag and to start colouring the neglected poster.

* * *

_"Don't wanna close my eyes,"_

Adrian had been colouring the poster for about 5 minutes until he heard something coming from the bathroom. Singing. Out of curiosity, he got up and went closer to the door.

_"I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you, baby"_

It _definitely_ wasn't Carter's phone. No, that was **him** _singing_ **.**

_"And I don't wanna miss a thing"_

Adrian had never heard Carter sing before, but he wasn't bad. Maybe not perfect because he was a little pitchy, but it was practically a ballad. He realized he had never heard Carter sing properly before, maybe the occasional hum or poorly trying to remember a song he once heard on the radio, but never properly singing while caring about it.  
  
And it was a love song.  
  
Adrian could still hear him singing as he walked back to the poster. He was blushing because it was like he had walked into something he shouldn't have heard. Not like it was that private anyway, because he could still hear him singing from where he was sitting.

 _ **BANG BANG BANG BANG**_ "CARTER ARE YOU DONE IN THERE?" Rebecca was banging the door and yelling with a paper bag in her hand. Probably a bath bomb.

"I JUST GOT IN HERE **GIVE ME A SECOND**." Carter angrily yelled back. The shower turned off.  
  
Well, so much for the singing.

* * *

It had been nearly 10 minutes since Carter got out of the bathroom (angrily) with a towel draped on his head just so his sister could get in quicker. He was on his phone looking at Instagram (because Facebook is dead) while Adrian was busy colouring. Carter looked up from his phone and noticed Adrian staring into nothing, just the vague direction of the poster.  
  
"Heyheyhey, you're colouring out of the lines."

"Whuh? Oh, shit-"

Carter grabbed the eraser before Adrian did in his stumbling and started erasing the stray marks for him.

"Is there something on your mind? You usually aren't distracted enough to start doing something like that."  
  
Adrian blushed and put his hands on his lap, "No." Keep it together.  
  
Carter raised his eyebrow.

"well," _You're falling apart._  
  
Carter's face got closer to him, staring deep into his soul.  
  
"NOTHING much exceptforyoursinging," Adrian quickly rushed out. **_Fallen._**

Carter gasped loudly. "You heard that?"

Carter realized it was a bit reckless to be singing in the shower with guests over, but he couldn't help it. The song had been stuck in his mind for days and he needed to let it out.  
  
"Who couldn't hear it! I could hear it from here, hell, the whole house could probably hear it!"

Carter started blushing furiously. "W-was it good?"

"Yeah. It was actually really good." Adrian started blushing. He looked back at the poster and starting colouring again.

Silent pencil scratches filled up the living room. The silence became too hard to bare.

"Y'know," Adrian started, "the school Talent Show is coming up."

"Mhmm." Carter nodded while still erasing Adrian's bad colouring.

Then Carter looked at Adrian dead in the eyes.

"No."

Adrian stuttered, "Y-you didn't even know what I was gonna say!"

Carter crossed his arms and leaned back. "Oh Carter, you have the voice of an angel, I think you should sing in the school Talent Show because everyone needs to hear this beautiful voice of yours!"

Adrian crossed his arms too and turned away, " _I don't talk like that."_

"You really think _**I**_ would go out on stage and sing just because I kind of can?" Carter threw his arms in the air dramatically. He only ever watched Adrian perform and rehearse, but the thought of him being on stage was frightening to him.

Adrian turned back to him, "Maybe! You were outgoing enough to hit on me for a month!"

"Yeah but that was me thinking with my dick, not my mind! Besides, no one else noticed but Maria and a few other people but this is the whole school!"

"If I can get over my stage fright to have the confidence to perform on stage you can too!"

"Someone helped you!"

"I can help you!" Maybe not the same way he got helped.

Carter crossed his arms again. "Look, this isn't going anywhere. Just drop it." Carter did _not_ want to perform in front of the school. That would make two nerds in the couple, and he has to be the _cool_ one.

"Fine." Adrian went back to colouring the poster, frustrated, but determined.

"But I'll make you crack one day. Sooner or later you'll have signed up for the talent show." Adrian said.

Carter rolled his eyes. He once had this amount of spirit in trying to pursue something.

Carter went back onto his phone feeling nostalgic. "You can try. I'd love to see you try."

What Carter forgot though, is that he eventually did get what he pursued.


	3. Bargaining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we in it now boys

**February 3 (Cafeteria)**

* * *

Adrian and Maria were eating during lunch time, discussing the Talent Show. Maria wasn't going to sign up, but Adrian had something in mind for himself.

"So I decided, I will go all out and sing Blank Page by Sia," Adrian said confidently. It was a song he accidentally stumbled across one day, and the lyrics resonated with his own life. It wasn't _entirely_ his type of music, but it made a really deep connection with him.

Maria raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that by Christina Aguilera?"

"No, Sia wrote the song and her demo is a lot more tender and loving than the version Christina put out."

Maria nodded, "Okay, but it's still a vocally demanding song. You still up to it?"

"Yep, I already signed up and talked to Amanda about it." Amanda was the one coordinating it with the student council. When he hold her about his plan for the Talent Show, she asked the same exact questions.

A lunch tray practically slams down on the table. Carter quickly sits down as Jason follows more calmly. "Hi, what are we talking about? The line was long today."

Adrian rolled his eyes, smiling, "No, you just came in late. Anyway, we were just talking about the Talent Show."

Carter's eyes widened. He should not have asked.

Adrian noticed and smirked a devilish smirk. So devilish, the devil would be scared.

"Y'know,"

"Adrian,"

"Carter here actually has a pretty good sing-"

Carter quickly stuffed his sandwich into Adrian's mouth. All of his nightmares were coming true at this very moment. _The nerd and nerd couple._

Adrian quickly coughed the sandwich out. "HEY you could've KILLED me!"

"Well I DIDN'T," Carter did feel bad for doing that, but this was his _dignity_ he had to protect. He would be _**ruined**_ if Jason and Maria found out he also enjoyed singing.  
  
Jason looked at Carter, "Dude, what is up with you?"

"Nothing, does it look like something's up?" Smooth, Carter. Real smooth.

Maria doesn't buy it, "Carter, you clearly don't want something being said."

"Like?"

Wait, did he just bait himself? Wait-

Adrian quickly chimed in before anything else could happen, "CARTER'SAGOODSINGER."

**shit.**

Carter's face was in complete shock, and he started slapping Adrian's arm like a child, "WHYYYYYY would you _**DO THAT."**_ He slammed his face onto the table, regretting it immediately. It hurt.

Maria gasped, "Carter, you can sing?"

Adrian started talking for him, ignoring Carter, "Yeah, and he's actually good. I heard him over the weekend when he was showering." Maria looked at him funny. Adrian quickly added to it, "I mean, I wasn't _trying_ to listen to him, he just had good volume."

Jason started getting excited, "Yo, why don't you ever sing in front of us? I wouldn't mind a _serenade~"_

Carter quickly looked up from the table, "Serenading is for nerds! Also I'm not that good!"

Maria was fully enjoying herself, head now resting on her hand. "If your nerd of a boyfriend says that your singing is good, you're probably good. I think you should totally perform." (Also, when was serenading for nerds?)

"But I don't want to go on stage in front of the whole school, I'm shy!"

Maria and Jason both looked at him deadpan, "You? Shy?"

Adrian looked at them deadpan too, "Exactly." He turns back to Carter, "But if you're shy, I can just go up with you."

"Adrian, you already signed up for the Talent Show," Maria added.

"Yeah, but _I_ signed up for the Talent Show. _He_ didn't. I'm sure if I tell Amanda the circumstances, she would let me go up with him."

Carter was running out of excuses. He slouched down in his seat and crossed his arms. "You're ganging up on me," he said weakly.

Adrian held Carter's hand and looked into his eyes and smiled. "It's our Senior year. It's our last year and this would be your last opportunity to do it. I will make sure it goes smoothly."

Carter looked up from his potato sack-like position. It's those eyes that make you fall in love all over again, like it was your first time experiencing it. Eyes are the window to the soul or something. And that smile, that damn, tender loving smile. "I don't know, It's just a little new to me is all," Carter looked away, talking into his collar.

Carter looked back at Adrian. Adrian smiled again. Wait, this wasn't a kind and tender smile. Oh no.

" _I'll buy you Animal Crossing: New Horizons if you do it with me."_

Evil. He's pure evil. Adrian scooted closer to his face.

" _ **On pre-order."**_

Devil incarnate. Lucifer himself. Human deception in the form of a short adorable gay teenager.

"OKAY fine, I'll sign up for the talent show and do it with you." Honestly, he would've done anything to get someone to pre-order Animal Crossing for him. This circumstance though, was playing dirty.

Adrian smirked, "Told you you would crack," and he quickly planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

Jason was fully enjoying himself, head now resting on his hand. "Brutal."

Maria raised an eyebrow, not in question, but in amusement, "Impressive Mr. Hlaváček. Very impressive."

Carter groaned and slouched further down. Secretly, he was giddy inside, but he wouldn't let them know that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: ty for the 1 hit i will continue posting the rest of the chapters


	4. Thinking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things get set in motion

**February 5 (Auditorium)**

* * *

Adrian and Carter were both sitting in the auditorium. Carter was still just a visitor while Adrian was supposed to be practicing the songs for that year's production of Heathers the Musical, the High School version of course (the only way to get it past the principal). Adrian's a nerd. No like, literally playing the nerd. Heathers was a few months away while the school Talent Show was a month away, so the Talent Show was more important.

"How about this song?" They were sitting on black boxes on the stage close to the wings ignoring the rest of the group singing in the middle. They were on Youtube trying to find songs to sing. Carter pulled up the song "Love Trial" by 40mp, covered in English.

"Where did you find this song?" Adrian said midway.

"Rebecca had friends over. They were playing music on the T.V. and one of her friends pulled up this one and I listened. Honestly, pretty relatable." He intentionally left out that fact that he was dragged into her friend group so they could give him a goth makeover and film a TikTok about it.

"Yeah, but this is a solo. Didn't you say you wanted me by your side?"

"Oh. Whoops." He got too distracted with finding good love songs that he didn't even think about finding a duet, he fully did not want to go out there alone.

Trying to find a love song was harder than they thought. They didn't want anything too cheesy, old, overdone, or too sexy for school. Despite nearly every radio song being about love, most of them weren't usable.

Carter had an idea, "Do you know about any musicals that have a duet love song?"

Adrian looked up, pondering in thought, "Hmm, most of them are too up beat or are super specific, but I can check. Over the past year, Adrian got very familiar with different musicals. There were many Broadway bootlegs and secret reuploads to look at over his breaks so his mental catalog expanded greatly.

"Oh! I know exactly what to pick." 

Adrian quickly put the title in the search bar while Carter leaned over to look.

Adrian quickly hugged the phone to his chest. "No peaking, just listen." He knows Carter will love this one.

* * *

The atmosphere in the room felt like it was different. Carter had never listened to it before and he was enamored by it. Adrian however, had regularly listened to the song and thought about him and Carter. The thing different about that now is that he was listening to it with him. Both had butterflies in their stomach, just like when they finally confessed that they loved each other.

Adrian was blushing, "So, what do you think?"

Carter turned his head away, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing harder, "God, can I really do that?"

"Do what?"

"Sing that in front of the school." It was a beautiful song, sure, but he felt like he couldn't do it justice. Some of the words got drawn out and he didn't know if he had the stamina to keep it up that long, while also moving.

"Let's just start with singing it." Adrian put his hand on Carter's lap, trying to pull his focus off the future and back into the present. "I'll send you the lyrics."

"Okay."

"Also, you sing first."

" **What.** "

"It's your performance, I'm just there living in it. It's going to be your love song and you're going to rock it."

Rock. He wish he were hit with one right now. He looked down, wallowing in his dramatic sorrow.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Adrian's head get smacked with a bunch of papers.

"Ow!" Adrian looked up and saw Amanda with the script to the musical in her hands.

"I don't remember a song like that in Heathers. Aren't you supposed to be singing with the rest of the group?" Amanda had a smirk on her face. Carter was relieved when he realized it was a joke because he was **not** about to get in trouble with Amanda.

Adrian cocked his head at her and squinted, "Did you wait for the song to be over so you could hit me?"

Amanda shrugged, "Maybe. It's a good song, what's it for?" 

"Carter's gonna be performing it with me in the Talent Show," Adrian replied. Carter waved at Amanda.

"Neat. Well, you'll have plenty of time later to practice with him. Right now you have to join the rest of the group, we're gonna run through _Beautiful_ until the end of practice." The end of practice was still about an hour away. Carter knows they're gonna fully go into the end, so he's just gonna go back to the seats.

"Okay, I'll be right there." Adrian stood up, and gave a quick peck on the cheek to Carter, "Bye."

Carter smiled and watched him walk off as he stood up from his box. He was pushing the box back into the wings, when he suddenly noticed Maria standing there. It was hard to tell from the lack of lights in the wings, but she looked tired.

"Uh, hi." Carter said. "Aren't you supposed to be with the group?"

Maria looked back at him and smiled, "Yeah, but they're focusing on the choir portion of the song right now and I'm Heather McNamara, one of the main characters, so, I chose to opt out of practice." She said it with a lack of energy. It wasn't boredom, but it was something else.

Maria held the smile as she looked away, "Y'all are cute though."

"Thanks," Carter scratched the back of his head, "I'll just be heading back to the seats now."

"Take care." Maria's smile slowly faded.

Odd. Carter walked back to the rows of seats in the auditorium. He sat near the front and watched the group (mainly Adrian) practice, but Maria was still in the wing staring wistfully. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68wFpO8oeM4 Love Trial by 40mp, Covered in English by JubyPhonic
> 
> Edit: i literally just sat down right after posting this and heavily edited all the chapters including this one to add more detail


	5. Setup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy valentines day heres these two lovers
> 
> short chapter because oops

**February 12 (Auditorium)**

* * *

Carter was running a little late. _Technically_ not to anything because it was just practice for the theater kids, but he wanted to be back sooner. He got an excused absence for his last block (crazy, right?) because he needed to go pick up something with his truck. He came in at just the right time, when Adrian was practicing for his Talent Show performance.

" _Draw me a smile, and save me tonight._

 _I'll be a blank page, waiting for you to bring me to life,_ "

He quickly sat down at the back as to not distract him. Adrian really chose a beautiful song, and with the vocal training he practiced over the winter break, his range was better.

_"Paint me a heart, let me be your art._

_I am a blank page, waiting for life to start,"_

The other theater kids were on stage talking to each other, but most of them were watching Adrian practice. The theater class had too many people in the talent show, so Amanda gave them the last 30 minutes of practice everyday to do their own practice. 30 minutes really wasn't a lot for them, but it was better than nothing. 

_"Let us beat as one, together. Let us beat as one, together."_

The instrumental playing over the speakers stopped. Everyone was clapping politely, but Carter had a thundering applause. It caught Adrian's attention and snapped him out of the lingering melancholy of the song.

"Oh! Hey." Adrian was blushing as Carter started walking down to the stage, "Where were you?"

"Just getting something for the performance," Carter smiled, "It's in the back of the truck. Wanna help?" 

"Of course." Without any asking any other questions, Adrian followed Carter out of the building and into the front of the school. What he saw when he walked outside was a set of lockers with wheels at the end of them, almost dangling out of the truck.

"Yeah, so maybe it was a tight fit, but at least I actually got them to stay on." Carter looked at it proudly, with his hands on his hips.

"And you're saying this is for the performance?" Adrian eyed the lockers.

"Yup! I have a vision for this performance. I'll tell you about it once we get it into the auditorium."

Adrian started circling the truck, getting a better view of what he was gonna help unload. "Where did you even find this?"

"Amanda wanted lockers for the musical you guys are doing, so I asked if I could retrieve them early to use for our performance. She asked the theater company, gave me the okay, then signed me off from my last class so I could go get them. Took me about an hour to get there."

Adrian crossed his arms, "Took you an hour to get there _directly,_ or took you an hour with some pit stops?"

" _Ehehehe._ " Carter scratched his head, there was a KFC on the way there and he had coupons in his wallet. 

* * *

For something on wheels, it was really hard to get into the wing. The lockers weren't that heavy, but the problem was making sure the amount of force used to push it into the school wasn't enough to make it topple. And also stairs. Stairs are evil. Still, they both successfully got it on stage and pushed it into the wings. Adrian and Carter draped themselves over a couple of chairs, exhausted.

"So, what are the lockers for?" Adrian took off his cardigan and put it over his chair, he needed some time to cool off.

"I was thinking that for the performance, we act out how we met from being in Chapters to actually falling in love. We'll have a bookshelf, desks, and a bed alongside the lockers." Carter thought of the idea on the weekend when Mike told him he was considering quitting Chapters because he was bored of it.

Adrian looked at him surprised, "That's a pretty good idea from a guy that doesn't think." Admittedly, it was a decently elaborate plan. He was fully expecting just Carter singing on stage, with him walking in midway to sing his part with him.

"Thank you," Carter said while flipping his hair, fully taking it as a compliment, "I try my best."

Adrian chuckled, "It'll definitely be better looking than how it actually went down." Good memories. Maybe.

"What do you mean _better looking?_ " 

"Asking a stranger to fuck you in an abandoned aisle in Chapters compared to singing a love song?" A situation so romantic, Cupid was jealous.

Carter crossed his arms and fake-pouted, "Romance is subjective." Carter was absolutely shameless.

"Well, at least it worked out in the end," Adrian leaned forward and kissed Carter on the cheek.

Carter reciprocated by kissing him back on the lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the 3 hits and 1 kudos and ty to the wonderful comment on chapter 3 that proves that real humans still exist to read always raining here
> 
> fun fact almost every time im writing a chapter its past 2am and im listening to asmr and/or a love song
> 
> mostly asmr
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvIe_qRBd9c Blank Page by Sia
> 
> edit: WHAT DO YOU MEAN the webcomic is being reuploaded regularly on webtoon? wouldnt there be more fanfics?


	6. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thats right kids we adding a SIDE STORY for some SUBSTANCE
> 
> who knows what the song theyre singing is though :thinking:

**February 18 (Auditorium)**

* * *

Adrian was sitting in the front row, watching Carter sing while he was sitting at the edge of the stage. Normally he would be sitting with him, but today he was on vocal rest because he had a cold. He was huddled in his seat, drinking ginger tea out of his thermos while sniffling quietly. Because he was preoccupied with using his voice as little as possible, Maria was singing his part for him. He was so focused on watching them sing, that he didn't even notice that someone sat down next to him.

"Hi," Jason quietly said.

Adrian jolted in his seat out of surprise, "Hey. What are you doing here?" Just because he had a cold didn't mean he couldn't respond. He'll just have to stick to whispering for now.

"Came to watch Carter sing. I was gonna wait until he actually performed, but I'm the only one that hasn't heard it. Maria says he's good so I wanna hear that for myself."

"Ah." Adrian sipped his tea again.

Both of them sat in silence watching them sing. Jason was enjoying their singing, but as the song went on, he got more fidgety. Even though Adrian was still focused on Maria and Carter singing, he still noticed him.

The instrumental playing from Maria's phone stopped and they both looked at the two boys sitting in the front row. Adrian gave them a thumbs up and then left the auditorium to go to the washroom. "Hey," Carter said, going to Jason.

"We need to talk." Jason grabbed Carter's arm and dragged him away from the stage into the back of the Auditorium as Carter slapped his kidnapper's arm.

Carter whipped his arm out of Jason's grip.

"What is wrong with you? What are we talking about? Is it my singing? Because I would totally understand if it was my-"

" _No_ it's not your singing-"

"Oh, so I was good then." He had to find a way to get a compliment to him, and thankfully Jason didn't have anything to say about his singing.

"No-Yes, your singing was good and better than I expected, but it's about _her_ singing."

"Maria?" Jason nodded. "But Maria is fine at singing?" Carter was very confused by this point.

"Yes, but I," Jason started getting flustered, and noticeably so. And sweating?

"But?" Carter prodded.

" _I..._ don't think she should be singing with you."

Huh. Carter stopped being confused. His face was similar to a deer in headlights.

"Huh. You don't want her to sing with me when my boyfriend is too sick to sing." Jason was acting strange, stranger than normal. The only thing to do now is to interrogate.

" _Maybe."_ Jason scratched the back of his head, sheepishly. "Maybe ask someone else?"

"Maria's the only other person that I know in this room." 

"Then sing alone!"

"Singing a duet _love_ song alone to practice is weird, and-"

Boyfriend. Love. Oh. 

Carter crossed his arms, "Jason, when was the last time you got laid?"

Jason was caught off guard. "Uh, December. Why?"

"Weird. That's _a long_ time for you of all people to have gotten laid."

Jason crossed his arms too, "And? What about it?"

Carter got close and then jabbed a finger at Jason's chest, "You're jealous."

Jason blushed, "What?"

"You don't want me to sing with Maria because you are in **love** with her."

"You can't prove that." Jason looked away.

Adrian walked back into the Auditorium and saw Carter and Jason at the entrance.

"Adrian, Jason doesn't want me to sing with Maria because he's jealous. Does that sound like love?"

Adrian nodded, then gave a thumbs up to Jason.

Jason slumped his back against the wall in defeat. That thumbs up from Adrian like a deafening blow to his soul. "You're ganging up on me!"

"I mean it was kinda obvious," Carter said, ignoring Jason's whining, "You started hanging out with her by yourself without us inviting you to anything."

Jason looked away from both of them. Concerned, Carter crouched down alongside him.

"You've never actually been in love before, have you?" Carter could very easily recount the times Jason told him he got laid, but not once has he actually talked about his feelings towards girls beyond his libido and infatuation.

Jason looked back at Carter, "It's just, I don't know how to talk about my feelings with her."

Adrian also crouched down next to Jason, "Talk," he whispered, "She would like that."

Jason looked back at Adrian, then looked down at his knees. "You make it sound so simple," and it really was that simple, but fear easily gets in the way of simple things.

Carter suddenly had a great idea and stood up,

" **Prom."**

Adrian raised an eyebrow at him.

Jason also raised an eyebrow at him, "What about prom?"

Carter raised his hands in the air, "Promposal, dummy! Promposals are the easiest and quickest way to tell her that you love her!" It was a little too early for Promposal season, but it was never too late to declare your love.

"But I don't know what to do for a Promposal!"

Carter crouched back down, this time next to Adrian, "Leave it to us."

Us. Adrian looked at Carter, deeply squinting into his eyes.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. You're helping me, help him, help her."

Adrian rolled his eyes. "Fine," he quietly let out, "but I can deny bad ideas."

"Deal."

* * *

The boys walked back down to the front of the stage where Maria was just on her phone. "Hey, is everything okay?"

Carter smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Yep! Never better!"

Maria smirked, "I was asking about Jason."

Jason scratched the back of his head, "Oh-, yeah, I'm fine." Smooth. Like oatmeal.

Carter quickly leapt back on stage next to Maria, trying to take the focus off Jason, "Alright enough break time, let's go over it again."

Adrian and Jason sat back down at the front, with Adrian sipping his tea again. He's really doing this huh? Oh well, Operation Promposal it is. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> id imagine there would be more fanfic readers and fanfics once the webtoon of always raining here ends
> 
> thank you for the 6 hits by chapter 6
> 
> edit march 2nd: sup im busy with school because term is almost over and im behind on work but i assure you this shit will be finished and you will see all the happy endings i can give you
> 
> edit march 14: the world went to shit when i stopped writing and im on spring break now so im writing the fanfic again get ready


	7. Promposal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow its been a month
> 
> woops
> 
> i mean with school being cancelled anywhere from a month to 6 i might as well write these with my many many hours of free time
> 
> yeah i know these are set in 2020 just ignore the part where we actually got a pandemic pretend like everything is normal like when i started writing

**February 24**

* * *

Adrian was fully recovered from his cold, and was happily practicing staging the performance with Carter. Something new was happening though, and that something new was someone. Jason. Ever since the day he came in to watch Carter sing, he's been showing up at every practice to talk to Maria. Even though it should be more distracting for Maria, it actually helped her space out less. What it didn't help though, was Adrian and Carter.

"Oof, hey you're supposed to be at the desks by now!"

Adrian bumped into Carter who was paying attention to Maria and Jason talking in the front row seats of the Auditorium. They were both happy and laughing, paying no attention to the boys practicing.

"Sorry, but admit it, you want to see them get together." 

Adrian ignored Carter, not wanting to admit that he very much wants to see it too, "Start the song from the beginning."

The song started again, and they got into place.

They were about 2 minutes in and they were in each other's arms, both ballroom dancing in circles on the stage as the song picked up and got to their duet.

_"aHAHAHa!"_

A loud laugh came from Maria, startling the two love-bugs on stage.

"wOAH," Carter got distracted as he pulled focus away from the performance to Maria, and he stumbled on his feet. He fell, and dragged Adrian down along with him. The music paused as someone watching stopped the music for them.

Maria and Jason stopped talking to each other and looked at Adrian and Carter on the ground.  
  
"Uh," Maria started chuckling after realizing what she was looking at.

Jason laughed when he realized what just happened, "Now, I am very supportive of you two, but y'all better get a room."  
  
What had happened was that Carter was right over on top of Adrian with his hands on the ground keeping him from crushing him. He was pinning Adrian down on the stage as his body laid in between his open legs. Their heavily blushing faces were inches apart. It was hot, but hot as in the way that they were both blushing like crazy.

Adrian ~~despite being on the bottom~~ immediately took action by twisting his body to throw Carter off of him.

"wAUGH-" Carter flew off of Adrian and crumbled against the desks on the stage.

Adrian stood up, brushing himself off while still blushing, "Yeah, I think we're done for the day."  
  
Carter pushed himself up to look up at him, "What? We almost made it through the whole song that time." It wasn't like they never got through the whole song, but it was happening less and less as Maria and Jason started talking more with each other.

Adrian gave his hand out to Carter to help pull him up off the ground, "Yeah, but we have something a little more important to figure out." Adrian pointed at Maria and Jason, who were already talking with each other again, ignoring the boys. Their fall interrupted a very intriguing conversation about the first time Jason ever sent a Valentine's Day card in elementary school.

Carter stood back up, looking at the two love-bugs sitting at the front of the auditorium, "Yeah, you're right. Let's put the set back."

As they were both rolling the pieces of the set back into the wings, Adrian had an idea.

"Let's go to the art room later."

Carter looked back at Adrian, puzzled, "Why? Got an idea?"

* * *

Adrian and Carter were now sitting on the floor in the middle of Carter's living room, with a big piece of red banner paper draped over the table. The table was way too small for it, so most of it draped over the ground. On top of it was a large tube of black tempura paint and a large paintbrush they "borrowed" from the art room (no one's gonna miss the black tempura paint). Both of them sat in silence looking at it.

"Got anymore ideas?" Carter asked, looking at the blank paper.

Adrian looked back, straight faced, "Nope. You know him better than I do." It was true, as Jason and Carter were fairly close since the beginning of high school. He was one of Carter's only friends, and he got to hear about almost every encounter he's had with a female.

Rebecca walked into the room with a glass of water, looking at the materials laid out on the table, "What is that for?"

"We're making a promposal for Jason," Carter said.

"Jason? That desperate friend of yours that talks about how much women he's fucked actually _loves_ someone?" Jason being one of Carter's only friends meant that he came over a lot, meaning that Rebecca overheard a lot. She participated in a lot of their conversations and took mental notes as to what to avoid for the future.

Carter gasped dramatically, "You watch your mouth in this household," pointing a finger at his sister.

"Aren't you twelve?" Adrian turned around and asked.

"Thirteen mind you, anyway have fun with your banner," she said, sipping her water as she walked off.

Carter turned back towards Adrian, "Sorry about her. She's really nosy."

Adrian had his hand on his chin, thinking about what Rebecca said, "Y'know, she's right about one thing."

"About what? How Jason's boned a lot of girls?"

"Okay, I can't verify that because I don't know him that well, but she's right about him being _desperate._ We could work with that." Adrian had an idea this time, and a great one.

Carter raised an eyebrow, "But how?"

* * *

**February 25 (Hallways)**

* * *

Jason looked at the unfurled banner at his locker, stunned. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, this will totally work!" Carter said proudly, "You're a very desperate person -don't try to deny that- and this banner perfectly reflects you." Carter and Adrian both came up to Jason before classes started to show him their hard work of less than an hour.

Jason nervously looked at Adrian, "You're really sure Maria will like this?"

Adrian held up an okay sign with his hand, "She's a woman that loves honesty, she'll definitely accept it."

"Okay great! Now that we all like it, we can do the promposal at the beginning of lunch when she steps out of her biology class." Carter said, ignoring Jason's uncertainty of the banner.

Adrian furled back up the banner, "You have about 3 hours to calm your nerves, you'll live," he said, patting Jason's shoulder as he walked back to his locker.

Jason was wide eyed at this point, realizing he's doing a promposal to the one girl he's actually loved in only 3 hours, " **Great."**

Carter put his hand on Jason's shoulder, "Trust me, this gets way easier after you tell someone you love them."

* * *

Jason was sweating outside of Maria's biology class, with Adrian and Carter behind him. The door wasn't open yet because the class was still doing the test, so Jason has just been nervously standing in front of the class as students walked by for lunch. For the past minute, he's just been hearing "You'll do great," and "You literally can't fuck this up this is super easy," and "You put too much AXE on."

The door opened. Students started trickling out of the room, and then Jason made eye contact with Maria. She looked back and stopped outside of the doorway.

"Oh! Jason, why aren't you in the cafeteria today?"

Jason gulped, "Maria, I have something very simple to ask you."

Jason stood as stiff as a rock as Adrian and Carter quickly stepped in front of him and unrolled the banner on each side.

Maria quickly gasped, and then immediately bursted out laughing.

In the middle of the red banner were bright black letters that said **"PROM PLEASE"** , and very heavily taped in between the two words was a 30 dollar Netflix gift card.

"WELL?" Carter yelled.

Maria looked up at Jason, ran up, and hugged him, "AbsoLUTEly!", and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Jason blushed, and then started blushing harder once he realized people were looking and clapping. Embarrassed, he hugged her back.

Adrian smiled at his friend, finally having a blossoming romance of her own instead of her looking at his. Adrian walked next to Carter and rested his head on his shoulder, "Man, if only it was that easy for us."

Carter pulled Adrian in closer by the waist and kissed his head, "Yeah, if only."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did say i was gonna update slowly
> 
> yall like how many line breaks i used
> 
> also THANK YOU to the people that gave me kudos and comments over the month, yall are cool people and im sorry i havent been responding but I READ THEM AND APPRECIATE YOU
> 
> edit april 27th: how are yall doing this fine quarantine  
> im not  
> anyway yes this will still happen ive just been sleeping more and putting online homework off to last minute instead of writing but THIS WILL GET DONE IN 2020


	8. Penultimate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg the webtoon version is almost over which means people are gonna go into ao3 and find out theres like 5 fanfics for this and this is the only recent one
> 
> thats economics baby
> 
> also let me just say LOL AT WEBTOON TAKING DOWN THE SAD HANDJOB SCENE which apparently was censored  
> i laughed so hard when i found out it was straight up CUT and skipped to carter washing his hands so the webtoon fandom cant meme about the sad handjob scene hi if you read the webtoon please read the original uncut uncensored version of the webcomic on the original website thank you

**March 1st (Auditorium)**

* * *

It was the day before the Talent Show and Adrian and Carter were finishing up their last dress rehearsal. Maria and Jason were at the front of the auditorium watching, and Amanda was supervising. The boys were both face to face together in the middle of the stage, holding hands, with their foreheads touching. They both had an intense gaze into each other's eyes as they sang the final words to their song. The music faded out.

"Good job guys!" Amanda started clapping lightly from the side of the stage while letting everyone else in the auditorium applaud too, with Maria being the loudest. Carter and Adrian broke apart from their embrace to look at Amanda.

"You think we're ready?" Adrian asked, while holding Carter's hand. Carter's hand was sweaty from being nervous.

"Of course," Amanda replied, "I'd have to be blind to say that you guys aren't ready. You guys clearly know what you're doing and you're both gonna look great when you perform on stage. You guys are free to go for the day." She put both of her hands on each of the boys' shoulders and shook their nerves off, and walked off the stage to talk to another group for the Talent Show. Maria and Jason walked onto the stage over to the two boys.

Jason started asking questions to Carter, "So? How are you feeling?"

"Great! But scared, but great!" He turned to Adrian, "Does it feel like this every time?"

"The adrenaline every time you finish performing? Yeah, you feel it." The rush is an addictive part of a good theatrical performance, which is the secret weapon that draws people back to it whether they're performing, or the audience.

" _Sweet_."

Maria leaned in to propose an idea, "And there's a theater tradition that occurs after every performance."

Adrian raised an eyebrow, "There is?"

"Of course there is, it's called going out to a restaurant to eat!" Maria raised her arms in the air with excitement. Eating after a performance is typically for larger performances like a play or concert, but it's great practice for eventual performances on a larger scale. It's also a great excuse to eat and pay less.

Adrian glared at Maria. He knew exactly what she was trying to do. "You just wanna eat."

"Not sure what you're getting at Mr. Hlaváček, but yes, I am hungry," Maria said coyly, "But it's a great way to relax and calm those nerves before the big day."

Jason's eyes lit up, "Ooh, can it be Pizza again? Don't get me wrong, the seafood place last time was great but my wallet cried for a week."

Carter looked at Jason and raised an eyebrow, "Do you even _have_ your wallet on you?"

"Nope."

Adrian sighed, "Fine, we'll go for pizza. Carter, you're paying for Jason."

"There is no way in hell I'm paying for Jason, he eats like he's starved." Carter's grip tightening on Adrian's hand. Although he isn't actually starved, the bill that Carter had to pay for the last time Jason forgot his wallet was like he was having food for the first time. 

"I'll split his costs over you," Maria said.

"Deal."

Jason drew back as if he was actually hit, "You're one to talk, I shared a bucket of KFC with you during the E3 watch party and you almost ate the entire bucket!"

"That was different!"

 **"How?"** Jason was borderline yelling at this point.

Adrian quickly pushed between them, "Okay **kids** , we _get_ it, you're both _fat_ , let's **_GO_.**"

* * *

"How do you feel about performing now?" Adrian asked while sipping on his water. They were sitting at the booth seats with each couple sitting together.

Carter started going deep into his thoughts. It was like he was thrown into a speedy race car on the road, and that road had some bumps. But he was never in danger, and the adrenaline of going fast was exciting, and he has the comfort of his boyfriend in the passenger seat. "I never thought I would be able to do it, the whole theater thing. It's just really fun to be able to perform on stage and get lost in the performance," he looked at Adrian, "and getting lost in you while I'm pretending like you're the only other person in the room."

Adrian started getting red and flustered, and looked away from him. "Damn, that's a cute way of describing it."

Carter leaned over to his side and gave Adrian a quick peck on the cheek, making him blush harder. Maria snickered to herself.

Jason interrupted them and coughed while reading his menu, "But, like, there's also other people in the room." Carter started blushing.

Maria pouted at Jason ruining the moment, "Don't be a killjoy. We can do that too y'know." Maria got up to Jason's cheek and kissed him, also making him flustered. He hid his face in his menu.

Adrian composed himself after taking a gulp of water, "It's great that you at least like performing. Maybe, you can perform more with me?"

Carter thought about it. He did have a great time the entire time to the point where he didn't believe he needs his boyfriend there to help him enjoy it. He didn't have any strong future plans and he _did_ have a lot of free time so theater could definitely occupy that time.

Carter smiled and replied, "Maybe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> are yall still here  
> yes its almost been 2 months, quarantine has entirely been sleeping and ignoring homework but like remember to pretend that a pandemic didnt happen in this fictional timeline
> 
> trust me that ive opened the draft for this chapter a LOT but just didnt put a single word in every time because its either 3am or i got distracted trying to find a youtube video to listen to while writing  
> it doesnt help that the way i wrote the chapter summary for this one was the absolute bare minimum
> 
> just so you know, chapter 9 will be the last part of the story. what will chapter 10 be? youll see ;)
> 
> working through a dead passion is like doing online schooling


	9. Only Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY WEBTOON FINALE!
> 
> so my plan was to release this on the day the final part came out but they sure took their sweet time after part 25 huh
> 
> and now i can finally reveal that this entire fanfic was spawned out of this song, the song performed in this chapter, the title of the fanfic, and the reason i wrote it in the first place :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJkwjrFbmIs
> 
> this takes place AFTER chapter 1
> 
> read along with the song btw itll make sense that way

**March 2nd (Auditorium)**

* * *

The curtains opened, the headsets were activated, and the [music started playing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJkwjrFbmIs)

> **I don't need you to sell me on reasons to want you**   
>  **I don't need you to search for the proof that I should**   
>  **You don't have to convince me**   
>  **You don't have to be scared you're not enough**   
>  **'Cause what we've got going is good**

Carter started singing while looking at the magazines on the bookshelf, he picked up one dejectedly and sang while looking at it, and then put it back on the shelf. He thought about the first time he ever saw him.

> **I don't need more reminders of all that's been broken**   
>  **I don't need you to fix what I'd rather forget**   
>  **Clear the slate and start over**   
>  **Try to quiet the noises in your head**   
>  **We can't compete with all that**

He walked over to the lockers and pulled a white envelope with a heart sticker out of his jacket and put it in one of the lockers, then they opened the other and put away his headphones around his neck, and his jacket. He kept walking and sat down at one of the desks on the stage, head in hand, looking lost. He thought about the first time he started noticing who he really was.

> **So what if it's us?**   
>  **What if it's us**   
>  **And only us**   
>  **And what came before won't count anymore or matter?**   
>  **Can we try that?**

While the spotlight was still pointed to Carter, Adrian stepped onto the stage on the bookshelf side, and started walking towards the lockers. He opened his locker to put away his jacket and then picked up the letter. He thought about the second time he ever saw him.

> **What if it's you**   
>  **And what if it's me**   
>  **And what if that's all that we need it to be**   
>  **And the rest of the world falls away?**   
>  **What do you say?**

Carter turned to Adrian who sat down next to him with the letter in his hand, and they both smiled at each other, but Adrian started facing away with the letter. He thought about the first time he started noticing who he really was.

> _I never thought there'd be someone like you who would want me_   
>  _So I give you ten thousand reasons to not let me go_   
>  _But if you really see me_   
>  _If you like me for me and nothing else_   
>  _Well, that's all that I've wanted for longer that you could possibly know_

Adrian sang to the letter with a shy face, away from Carter. At the end of the verse, he threw the love letter off the stage. Both of them scooted their desks closer together while facing each other. They both started thinking about the first time they really fell for each other.

> _So it can be us_   
>  _It can be us_   
>  _And only us_   
>  _And what came before won't count anymore or matter_   
>  _We can try that_

Adrian took both of Carter's hands and they both stood out of their seats together. They thought about how much they mean to each other.

> _**It's not so impossible** _   
>  _Nobody else but the two of us here_   
>  _**'Cause you're saying it's possible** _
> 
> **We can just watch the whole world disappear**

They stood up and walked so they were in front of the desks. Adrian noticed Carter still had his beanie on, so he took it off and put it on the desk and ruffled his hair so it stopped being flat. Behind them, a sparkling night sky started being projected. Adrian and Carter put their hands together and started waltzing around the stage as the projection slowly faded in. They both thought about the time they finally knew how they felt about each other.

> _**'Til you're the only one** _   
>  _**I still know how to see** _   
>  _It's just you and me_

They stopped and stood in the middle of the stage as the projection finished fading in, the fake night sky being projected strongly behind them. They kept thinking.

> **It'll be us, It'll be us**   
>  **And only us**   
>  **And what came before won't count anymore**

> _**We can try that** _

They both picked up their waltz again, as people completely shadowed by the night sky projection and the spotlight slowly came onto the stage to roll away all of the set pieces in the dark, leaving only the two lovers on stage alone with each other. They brought their minds back to their performance.

> _**You and me** _   
>  _**That's all that we need it to be** _   
>  _**And the rest of the world falls away** _   
>  _**And the rest of the world falls away** _

They slowly stopped their waltz in the center of the stage. The night sky projection slowly dies down, bringing complete focus to the spotlighted performers on stage. And they finally stopped thinking about how much they love each other.

> _**The world falls away** _   
>  _**The world falls away** _

Both of them while gripping each others hands, brought their hands to the space in-between their chests and got close with each other. They touched their foreheads with each other, feeling alone together in this tender moment on stage. They both closed their eyes. Why think about how much you love each other, if you already know?

> _**And it's only us.** _

The music faded as both boys finished singing, but before the applause could start, Carter quickly opened his eyes and kissed Adrian on the lips in front of the entire school.

Adrian opened his eyes in shock, but leaned in and reciprocated the kiss. The audience went wild, and cheered and clapped loudly. Both of them could hear Maria scream the loudest in the front seats while Jason tried to figure out how to clap while also covering his ears.

* * *

After the talent show finished, Maria and Jason walked over backstage to check on Adrian and Carter.

Maria saw Carter sitting down first, "Hey-"  
  
"I CAN'T be **LIEVE** I MESSED UP." Carter yelled, slamming his face down on the rolling desk he used.

Jason furrowed his eyebrows, confused, "What? You killed it dude. What did you mess up?"

Adrian walked over with his and Carter's clothes in his arms, "He forgot to put the beanie in the locker. We didn't really ever practice with it so we kind of forgot it was still there. He's been beating himself up over it for a while."

Carter quickly raised his head and slammed his fists on the desk like a baby, "It was HUMILIATING." Adrian slapped the back of his head.

"Get used to it, mistakes happen all the time."  
  
"So now that you've performed in front of the audience, how do you feel?" Maria asked.  
  
Carter put leaned his head on his hand, thinking about how he felt after performing. After the rest of the talent show performances, he had time for the adrenaline to wear off and to actually think about how he felt about the whole experience, "Honestly, it's magical. I don't think I've ever felt so satisfied with putting so much work into something that wasn't a game. Like, fuck sports! At least I don't get hurt during musical theater, AND it's so much more fun than sports."  
  
Adrian rolled his eyes, "Only you could explain your first experience performing like that."  
  
Carter looked back at Adrian and sneered, "Can't help it, I'm a unique individual."  
  
Maria hugged Jason's arm, "What if you performed with me one day?" Immediately, Jason shook his arm free from Maria.

"No way! I can barely remember my school timetable, you can't expect me to remember enough to perform something!" Maria stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
Amanda came up to the group, "Oh, you guys are still here? Can you help us put away the rest of the equipment?" Everyone replied with a vague sure because they just wanted to be kind. "Great, I'll be at the sound booth if you need me."

Carter finally got out of his seat and started rolling the desk away, "If you guys want, do you wanna go eat later?"

"Jason, do you have your wallet?" Adrian turned around.

Jason took his wallet out of his back pocket and opened it up, "Yep, and WITH money inside."

Maria wiped a fake tear from her eye, "I'm so proud of you. You finally have something in your wallet." Jason blushed and scratched his head.

* * *

Maria and Jason were walking back from the restaurant, but Carter was driving Adrian back home in his truck. Adrian leaned against the window, looking out at the road. "Would you do it again?"  
  
"What, another performance? Can't say, maybe I need another bribe," Carter lied. He would definitely do it again, but if he keeps getting rewarded for doing it, it would definitely be a great bonus.

Adrian snickered to himself, "Let's just hope Animal Crossing comes out with another game then. Or maybe I can just let you do whatever you want to me."

Carter slammed on the breaks. His face was flushed a bright red, and Adrian had his eyes wide open while being held back by the seatbelt. 

Carter continued driving, "No joking about that, you know I get riled up easily," he said while sulking.

"Doesn't mean you should try to launch me out of my seat." Adrian sat up and crossed his arms.

They sat in silence.

"But if it means you'll keep performing with me, sure."

"Adrian Hlaváček I swear to god I will kick you out of this truck right now."

"Do it pussy, you're already on my block."  
  
Carter squinted at the road in silence as Adrian turned his head away with a smug expression on his face. Usually he wouldn't be so bold with his language, but when you spend that much time in love with someone, they rub off on you a little bit.

The truck stopped outside of Adrian's house. Adrian leaned over and kissed a still grumpy Carter as he said I love you and left the truck.

Carter got to drive home with his own thoughts. Maybe, he thought, he didn't need any one else's incentive to perform in theater. He could definitely do it on his own, but knowing how he is, he will only do it with his number two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the END
> 
> thank you for following me on this long journey but we finally made it
> 
> the next chapter is a little treat for you which not many people actually show and i think y'all deserve to see it
> 
> PSA: most of the patreon short stories for ARH are now uploaded on the website and spring in december now has a different cover, make sure to read them and comment


	10. what i was writing off of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yep
> 
> this is what i wrote the entire fanfic off of  
> THIS is the second highest word count fanfic for always raining here  
> most people wouldnt show their planning stage but let me just say this entire thing literally took 2 weeks to make and most of it was typed out on my phone at school during drama class
> 
> get ready to just read mess  
> this isnt proofread btw its being posted as i typed it out ages ago

chatper 3: its the next week and adrian and maria are talking about the talent show and adrian is performing blank page and then suddenly carter and jason sit down into the conversation

and then adrian brings up carters singing like a dickhead and marias like OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and jasons like omg wtf dude you sing

and carters just hitting adrian like WHY did you DO THAt like a child

and adrians like BUT ITS A GOOD IDEA and maria is like i mean if carter can sing he totally should and then carters like im STAGE SHY

and adrians like

ill do it with you bby 

and marias like you already have a performance and adrians like but this wouldnt be mine it would be his im just there for it

jasons like k honestly tbh that aint bad carter you shoudl totally do it

and carters all defensive and making excuses like YOURE ALL GANGING UP ON ME

and then adrians like its senior year WE HAVE ONE YEAR LEFT WE SHOULD TOTALLY DO THIS and ill buy you ANIMAL CROSSING NEW HORIZONS and carters like omg fine ill do it

chatper 4 feb 5: theyre in the auditorium brain storming together in theater class and carter brings up love trial by 40mp and adrian listens to it but is llike but this is one person singing we need a duet if we both wanna perform

and then adrian remembers about the gay cover of only us from dear evan hansen and they listen to it and theyre like YES

they do a run through of the song on their phones and they're both enchanted by each others singing and get descriptive about it

amanda walks around and is like adrian its nice and all but you should be working on the play

(the play that year, undecided) 

~~ marias also on the side with a wide smile on their face and carter sees it first and looks and adrians like what and turns around ~~

~~ marias like OH NOTHINGGGG yall are just cute  ~~ nope we need a setup for the promposal plot maria is sad

chapter 5 feb 12: adrians practicing blank page near the end of practice because amanda let people practice for their talent show acts if they had them and carter comes into the auditorium enchanted by his singing and at the end he blushes coughs and says he needs help unloading a prop

its lockers on wheels

he asked amanda if there were high school sets in nearby theaters or schools and she pointed him in the direction of one because he needed to borrow some lockers for the talent show and hes like why and then carter starts explaining his vision and adrians like oh my god youre brilliant and kisses him

and then adrians like well itll look better as a performance than how it actually went down and carters like HAHA yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

chapter 6 feb 18: uh oh adrian is on VOCAL REST because he has a COLD so hes just chilling in the auditorium drinking ginger tea in a sweater

~~ carter also makes a joke about the virgin killer sweater (glare)  ~~ you dont become cold with a cold

jason stops by this time because he hasnt actually heard carter sing and also maria is helping him by singing adrians part

THIS IS WHERE WE ADD A SIDE STORY

jason is kinda jealous that maria is singing adrians part in the love song and after theyre done he says this to carter and hes like dude youre in love with her and hes like WHAT and carters like yeah its kinda obvious and asks for all these love symptoms and he diagnoses him with love

so they both go to adrian because jasons like ok but really and hes like yeah its kinda obvious while sipping his tea and they both plan to get him with maria by making him do a promposal for prom

chapter 7 feb 24th: adrian is better now and is practicing his stuff with carter and theyre staging the choreography while maria and jason talk because jasons been coming every time now just to talk to maria and both adrian and carter get distracted and and keep forgetting their moves and adrian bumps into carter and they fall on each other and maria and jason are like uh are you two okay and theyre like YEP as theyre probably in some compromising position

theyre distracted because their focus is on setting them up now and adrians like should we keep practicing and carters like nah we’re too distracted we need to get jason and maria TOGETHER so they gotta BRAINSTORM the promposal with jason

they go for a very traditional banner but because Jason's a desperate person adrian and carter just make a banner thsr says PROM PLEASE without jason knowing and marias like oh fuck yeah

chapter 8 mar 1: Jason and maria are together and watching them dress rehearse and it's the last day of rehearsals wowee and they reflect on their experience together or something and Amanda is like good work guys you're pretty much ready to go and jason and Maria are like damn dude you'll fuckin kill it and Carter still NERVOUS BOYYYYY

ill probably write in a food scene

chapter 9 march 2 performance

they kiss at the end in front of everyone

~~ chapter 10 blank page ~~

~~ Carter cries  ~~ NO TIME FOR THAT IT DOESNT WORK

~~ chapter 11 epilogue maybe ~~

~~ carters a guest role in a play ~~

~~ hes enjoying himself  ~~ NO TIME FOR THAT EITHER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thats my creative process
> 
> thank you for making it to the end and congratulations if you were reading this fanfic as it was being posted


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